Jessica Taylor has been appointed as the new Deputy Commissary General (Deputy Judge) for the Diocese of Canterbury, a role which her late sister Araba Taylor held until she passed away in December 2023.
Jessica came into the post on 26 June 2025 and the Bishop of Dover will formally welcome her to the Diocese in at Evensong in ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½Ò•îlon Wednesday 30 July.
Jessica is a specialist construction solicitor with over 30 years of experience, including as a Partner in top 100 law firms. She has recently joined Beale & Co as a Consultant solicitor. Jessica is also a non-executive director of the Construction Industry Council and the co-founder and Chair of Diversitas, an independent body that promotes and profiles top black construction professionals in the industry.
Commissary General Robin Hopkins welcomed Jessica’s appointment, saying: “We are extremely pleased to have someone of Jessica’s calibre and experience joining the Canterbury team.”
The Bishop of Dover, Rose Hudson-Wilkin said: “Jessica is a very welcome addition to the legal team in Canterbury and I will be praying for her as she gets to know us and the parishes we serve. I am particularly pleased to be welcoming her on a personal level as I had huge professional admiration as well as fondness for Araba and I am pleased that we have another talented member of the Taylor family to work with our diocese.”
The Commissary General is the Judge of the Commissary Court which exercises control over changes to certain types of church land and buildings, including most churches and churchyards. The Commissary court issues ‘faculties’ which are the permissions authorising physical and other changes to buildings and land which are consecrated. The Deputy Commissary General is therefore the Deputy Judge of the Court.
The Diocese of Canterbury is unusual in being the only diocese in the Church of England with a ‘commissary court’ (usually a consistory court) and a ‘Commissary General’ (usually a Chancellor).